Outdoors Almanac

April 03, 2007

Sportsman's meeting The Sportsman's Club of Brown County monthly meeting will be Feb. 22 at the Rifle Range. The Northeast South Dakota Walleye Club will prepare a deep-fried walleye dinner at 6 p.m. prior to the 7 p.m. meeting. Area conservation officers will be the guests at the meeting. This free dinner is open to all SCBC and NESDWC members, whether your dues are paid or not, as well as prospective members. Membership cards for both clubs will be available. Please RSVP to Randy Crawford at (605) 229-4414 if you plan to attend the dinner, please leave your name and the number of people that will be joining you so the servers do not run out of walleye. Whitetail banquet The Brown County chapter of Whitetails Unlimited's 22nd annual banquet will be held Feb. 24 at the Eagles Club in Aberdeen, located at 316 S. Second St. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $27 for single ($10 spouse) and $10 for junior tickets (15 and under). The price includes one-year membership in WTU and a one-year subscription to the Deer Trail or Trail Blazer magazines. Tickets will be available at the door or by calling (605) 225-8501 or (605) 397-8244. There will be an antler contest and display open to WTU 2007 members. Antlers can be registered from 3-5 p.m. by Pope and Young scoring system. All entries must be received before 7 p.m. Contestants are strongly urged to have their antlers pre-scored by calling (605) 229-4223 or (605) 380-5422. If pre-scored by someone else, contestants are asked to bring score sheets with them. There will be prizes in several categories. Tree stand deadline The deadline to remove all tree stands must be removed from public lands was Thursday. Eagle decision delayed Under a court-approved agreement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced the final decision on whether to remove the bald eagle from the federal list of threatened and endangered species will be postponed until no later than June 29. The additional four months will give the service time to complete additional analyses related to the final rule and put in place management guidelines and procedures that will make it easier for the public to understand ongoing Bald and Golden Eagle Act protections, ensuring that eagles continue to thrive once delisted. The service had been under a court-ordered deadline of Feb. 16 to make a final decision on the eagles' status. 10 CWD cases Of 2,509 animals tested in South Dakota since July 1, 2006, three elk and seven deer have tested positive for chronic wasting disease. The majority of elk and deer samples were from the Black Hills and prairie hunting units found in Fall River, Custer and eastern Pennington counties of western South Dakota. Most samples were taken from hunter-harvested animals. In the last round of testing, the state's chronic wasting disease program was expanded to include Grant and Deuel counties due to a CWD-infected white-tailed deer being discovered at a captive facility in Minnesota. There were 134 samples taken in Grant County and 117 samples taken in Deuel County. No deer tested positive for the disease in eastern South Dakota. Other tests in eastern South Dakota - in 2001-2003 in McPherson County and in 2003 in Deuel County - were also negative for CWD. CWD is a fatal brain disease found in both captive and free-ranging elk and deer. Hunting injuries decrease South Dakota experienced a decrease of almost 50 percent in hunting-related injuries in 2006 as compared to 2005. There were 29 hunting incidents reported in South Dakota in 2006 with no fatalities. That's 25 fewer than were reported in 2005 and slightly lower than the state's 15-year average. In 2006: 22 incidents related to small game with 18 taking place during pheasant hunts; 3 waterfowl hunting; 1 turkey hunting; 1 big game hunting, and 2 incidents related to other reasons. Fort Sisseton applications Preparations are under way for the 30th annual Fort Sisseton Historical Festival June 1-3. The event in Northeast South Dakota draws an average of more than 20,000 people from across the Midwest. Applications are now available for Arts and Crafts vendors, Food vendors and Rendezvous vendors. Details: (605) 448-5701 Winter fun in parks Recent snow across South Dakota has turned many state parks into winter wonderlands. Visitors can take advantage of the snow by going cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and sledding. The cold weather brings opportunities for ice skating, ice fishing and bald eagle viewing. Fort Sisseton has snowshoes available for check out and Oahe Downstream Recreation Area is host to roosting bald eagles. Many bald eagles spend their winters below the Missouri River dams where they are able to catch fish and waterfowl attracted to the open water. This provides an excellent opportunity for visitors to view bald eagles. State park opportunities: (605) 773-3391. Send your outdoors almanac information two weeks in advance to Aberdeen American News Outdoors, P.O. Box 4430, 124 S. Second St. Aberdeen, SD 57402 or by fax to (605) 225-0421. Store firearms safely Hunters should be taking extra care to ensure that their firearms are stored safely. Always unload sporting firearms carefully and completely before taking them into the home. Never load a sporting firearm in the home. Always make absolutely sure that firearms in the home are securely stored in a location inaccessible to children. Ammunition should be stored in a separate location, locked and also inaccessible to children. Always place firearms in their proper storage location immediately after returning from a hunting trip or a day at the range. Always re-check firearms carefully and completely to confirm that they are still unloaded when they are removed from storage. Most fatal firearms accidents in the home occur when youngsters discover firearms that adults thought were inaccessible.